British & Irish Lions

The British and Irish Lions started their first full day in Australia by attending a welcome ceremony at Kings Park in Perth.

The Lions were treated to some traditional music while captain Maro Itoje handed over a team jersey to Indigenous elder Trevor Walley.

Back-row forward Henry Pollock was spotted holding tightly on to mascot BIL. Tradition dictates that the Lions' youngest squad member must look after the toy lion at all times or be given a fine.

A cracking setting looking over the city of Perth is not a bad way to start tour life.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Matt Gault
BBC Sport NI Senior Journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Tom Curry says the British and Irish Lions must be prepared to have "tough conversations" in the wake of Friday's defeat by Argentina in Dublin.

The Lions' hopes for a buoyant send-off before their Australian tour were spoiled by an enterprising Pumas outfit, who deservedly won 28-24 at Aviva Stadium.

With the Lions now looking ahead to their tour opener against Western Force on Saturday in Perth (11:00 BST), Curry has called on the squad to "step up" and use Friday's loss as motivation to improve.

"I have been in these situations before and we have got to pull tighter, it is the only way," said the 27-year-old England back row.

"I feel like this group has taken so many steps off the field. I have not got a bad word to say about anyone.

"Everyone has been pulling in the right direction, especially the lads who came in this week, so when something goes against us we have got to keep our chests up and crack on with each other.

"We have to have the tough conversations. I am not going to say it is going to be a party, we don't need that. But we have got to pull tight and hit the ground running when it comes to training."

The Lions scored tries through Bundee Aki and Tadhg Beirne, either side of a penalty try, but Andy Farrell's side lacked a cutting edge when they entered Argentine territory.

And Curry, who started all three Tests against South Africa in 2021, said the players must take responsibility for their "own performances and how excited" they became on the ball.

"That is the really annoying thing because on the flip side it's really exciting because we do have our hands on the ball and are in great spots," said the Sale flanker.

"But come on, we need to take personal responsibility when we have it."

Despite Friday's defeat, Curry described this year's Lions experience so far as "sick" after the Covid-hit series against the Springboks four years ago.

"It's nice being in Dublin and people aren't booing you," he said.

"I think that's a cool thing. We speak a lot about respect with our own team-mates.

"We've only got six weeks together. Respect is so hard to earn but so easy to lose and I think it's really important, like I said, that every session and meeting we turn up and push in the right direction."

Image source, Getty Images

Fin Smith says there is no time for "moping" as the British and Irish Lions look to move past Friday's "incredibly disappointing" loss to Argentina.

The Lions failed to warm up for their Australian tour in style as the Pumas ran out deserving 28-24 winners at Dublin's Aviva Stadium.

Smith said he was "gutted" to start his Lions career with a defeat and knows the onus is on Andy Farrell's side to conjure a strong response when they take on Western Force in Perth on Saturday (11:00 BST).

"I'm sure it's not the first time the Lions have not played particularly well in their first outing," said the Northampton Saints and England fly-half.

"The main thing is how quickly we can respond and how quickly we can stop feeling sorry for ourselves. We need to get back on the training pitch and get better as quickly as possible."

He added: "We need to get back on the horse straight away and have conversations that are going to make us better. That's definitely the aim."

Despite the result, 23-year-old Smith says the formative stages of his Lions career have been "everything I expected and more".

"With the scale of it, it really does feel like the pinnacle day to day," he added.

"It feels incredibly special. It's everything I could have imagined and more."

In pulling on the red jersey, Smith followed in the footsteps of his grandfather Tom Elliot with the former Scotland prop having played on the 1955 Lions tour.

"Running out, I did acknowledge it was a cool moment for my career," said Smith.

"And I'm sure I'll go upstairs now and see my family and my girlfriend and it will feel more of a celebration than I'm feeling now.

"But you know what it's like, we're all competitive and we all want to win first and foremost more than anything. I'd definitely say I'm not feeling too overwhelmed with joy at the minute."

Image source, Inpho

Bundee Aki says it was "frustrating" that he did not link up better with midfield partner Sione Tuipulotu in the British and Irish Lions' defeat by Argentina in Dublin on Friday.

Andy Farrell's side were beaten 28-24 by the Pumas in what was their sole warm-up fixture before they head to Australia for a nine-game tour that includes three Tests against the Wallabies.

While there were encouraging signs with ball in hand, too often key passes did not stick and Aki felt he did not "connect well" with his fellow centre.

"We all know how Sione is as a player, he's class," said Aki, who was also on the Lions' tour to South Africa four years ago.

"The frustrating thing for me was I wasn't able to connect well with him. He's an unbelievable player and there's no excuse, we've got to get better as a partnership going forward."

After the stuttering start for the touring side, Aki believes individual combinations improving will be "better and beneficial for the group".

"He speaks out loud, which is good because that's what we need, him being himself and I just feed off him and he feeds off me. So it's brilliant," Aki said.

"We've just got to be better at it and keep learning together, the more we grow as a partnership and then as a group, it's going to be better and beneficial for the group."

Tuipulotu and Aki would both more regularly be deployed as inside centres, while fellow tourists Garry Ringrose, Huw Jones and Elliot Daly are all more used to wearing the 13 jersey.

Tuipulotu has an established partnership with Jones for both Glasgow and Scotland, while Aki and Ringrose know each other well from Irish sides.

Aki added: "Whoever it is, Garry, Huw, Elliot, as a unit we've got to make sure we gel together and try to get that cohesiveness fairly quick because we need to be better."

Image source, Getty Images

The Rugby Union Weekly podcast team were in Dublin on Friday to see Argentina pull off a famous win over the Lions at the Aviva Stadium.

Chris Jones and Ugo Monye were joined by former Lions Dwayne Peel and Anthony Watson to debate what went wrong - and right - for Andy Farrell's side, and what they need to fix once they arrive in Australia.

Did the Lions attack actually show plenty of potential? Will that accuracy come in time?

And they pay homage to the Pumas who made a mockery of the bookies' odds.

You can find out what they thought here.

Image source, Getty Images

You have come to the right place.

This page is where you will find all the best of BBC Sport's coverage of the Lions' tour of Australia, with the latest news, opinion, analysis and gossip from inside the camp.

Our team of journalists are on the ground, following the team from Dublin to Perth and beyond as they forge on towards a momental three-Test series against the Wallabies.

There will be interviews, podcasts, team news, behind-the-scenes pictures and live text coverage of every match.

And you can keep across it all.

Just hit the 'follow' button on website or app to add it to your 'MySport' feed - and tap the bell on the BBC Sport app to be served up alerts with all the latest from the matches.

Image source, Getty Images

Australia head coach Joe Schmidt described Bundee Aki and Sione Tuipulotu as a "southern hemisphere centre partnership" when running the rule over Andy Farrell's first British and Irish Lions selection.

The Lions take on Argentina at the Aviva Stadium on Friday night in what is their only fixture before a nine-game game tour of Australia.

Ireland's Aki and Scotland's Tuipulotu, born in New Zealand and Australia respectively, will be the Lions' midfield pairing against the Pumas despite both players more usually starting at inside centre.

Schmidt gave Aki his Ireland debut after the 35-year-old Connacht man qualified on residency in 2017, while Tuipulotu has been able to captain Gregor Townsend's side thanks to a grandmother born in Greenock.

"A southern hemisphere centre partnership that will be pretty formidable," said Schmidt at the media conference to confirm his squad for next month's game against Fiji.

Schmidt added: "I coached Bundee for several years and know him really well and respect him massively as a player. He's a great contributor to the team environment.

"I've only had glancing conversations with Sione but again, by all accounts a champion bloke. You don't get to be captain of a national team without being a great bloke and really professional in those high-performance environments."

That eight of Andy Farrell's 38-man squad were born overseas has been a talking point before the side make the trip down under.

Lions assistant coach Richard Wigglesworth was later asked about Schmidt's comments and said every player involved in the tour has "earned the right" to represent the side.

"I don't know if they are questioning their commitment. Everyone has earned the right to pull on the Lions jersey," said the former England scrum-half.

"They are, to a man, incredibly proud to be here.

"It is not your background or how you have got here, it's what sort of player you are and what sort of man you are. We have got great men and great players."

Chris Jones
Rugby Union Correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

The British and Irish Lions will have names on the backs of jerseys for the first time in their history this summer.

Andy Farrell's side meet Argentina at the Aviva Stadium on Friday evening, before the nine-game tour of Australia.

The decision to put player names on the touring side's famous red jerseys for every game was approved by the Lions board after consultations with former and current players.

The measure is expected to help casual fans of the game identify those on the field during play, and it will also enable supporters to buy replica shirts for an individual player.

England have had player names on the backs of shirts since the Autumn Nations series of 2022, with Scotland quick to follow suit.

Ireland waited until a World Cup warm-up fixture against Italy in 2023, but by the time of the 2024 Six Nations all sides in the competition were doing so.

While the change to player jerseys will be one significant first for the tour to Australia, another will not be golden-point extra time.

Rugby Australia had suggested the sudden-death method to avoid a repeat of the Lions' 2017 series draw against New Zealand.

But despite Australia's preference for a golden point tie-breaker, it is understood the concept has been rejected by the Lions. It means any Test level after 80 minutes will end as a draw.